Turbocharging is very common on diesel engines in conventional automobiles, in trucks, locomotives, for marine and heavy machinery applications. In fact, for current automotive applications, non-turbocharged diesel engines are becoming increasingly rare. Diesels are particularly suitable for turbocharging for several reasons:

• Naturally-aspirated diesels develop less power than gasoline engines of the same displacement, and will weigh significantly more because diesel engines require heavier, stronger components. This gives such engines a poor power-to-weight ratio, which turbocharging can dramatically improve with only slight additional weight.
• Diesel engines operate within a speed range, facilitating the use of a narrowly-optimized turbocharger.
• Diesel engines are not prone to the detonation that arises from high (or forced) cylinder pressure and can damage gasoline engines.
• Unlike gasoline (petrol) engines which experience higher fuel consumption when turbocharged, turbocharging can reduce the fuel consumption of a diesel engine.

The turbocharger's small size and low weight have production and marketing advantage to vehicle manufacturers. By providing naturally-aspirated and turbocharged versions of one engine, the manufacturer can offer two different power outputs with only a fraction of the development and production costs of designing and installing a different engine. The compact nature of a turbocharger mean that bodywork and engine compartment layout changes to accomodate the more powerful engine are not needed or minimal. Parts commonality between the two versions of the same engine reduces production and servicing costs.

Today, turbochargers are most commonly used on gasoline engines in high-performance automobiles and diesel engines in transportation and other industrial equipment. Small cars in particular benefit from this technology, as there is often little room to fit a large engine. Volvo and Saab have produced turbocharged cars for many years, the turbo Porsche 944's acceleration performance was very similar to that of the larger-engined non-turbo Porsche 928, and Chrysler Corporation built numerous turbocharged cars in the 1980s and 1990s.